My dad first introduced me to the world of Star Trek, and opened my mind to a world of communicators, dark matter, and replicators. These days we all own mobile devices so advanced they would make a Cardassian jealous, the existence of dark matter has been proven many times over, and now at long last it looks like the replicator is about to make its debut.
Now as any card carrying Trekker/Trekkie knows, the Star Trek replicator has the ability to provide tools, weapons, clothing etc.. by reorganizing subatomic particles turning one form of matter into another (air into earl grey, hot!). This kind of technology is decades away, but back here in 2009 NASA has developed technology that begins at the basics. This Replicator v1.0 will allow future astronauts to manufacture spare parts and tools during the upcoming manned moon/mars missions.
The method, called electron beam freeform fabrication (EBF3), uses an electron beam to melt metals and build objects layer by layer. Such an approach already promises to cut manufacturing costs for the aerospace industry, and could pioneer development of new materials.
The real benefit of this technology seems to be its flexibility. If the crew decides they need to build a tool to meet an unforeseen issue: lets say Lieutenant Scotty is faced with an infestation of Tribbles. Scotty can design parts and tools from scratch and have the replicator take care of the manufacturing.
Now i know what you’re al thinking, and yes … this technology would be a game changer here on earth! If my blackberry pearl loses it’s trackball again (for the 3rd time!) i could just download the specs and the replicator whips me up a new trackball in a jiffy. No need to wait on hold or in line … or at all.
I’ll just have to wait a few decades until it can replicate me a glass of sweet, smooth Merlot.
That’s pretty sweet, man. You have to love how life imitates art.
Sweeeet! Garage inventors will have a field day with this once the cost comes down from $1,000,000,000 a unit!
I joke though. Seriously, if airplane manufacturers can start building plane parts for a small piece of the current cost and possibly improve performance at the same time maybe Air Canada can come back up from the red! And there’s the space travel aspect to consider too! With a limited budget, this sort of think can be a major boon to NASA! Easily recycling and building their own parts could be huge for a team stranded beyond Pluto during the first manned deep space mission!!